Theaster Gates’ socially responsive work bridges the boundary between art and society, facilitating political and urban change through interventions and performances. Black Madonna, now open at Kunstmuseum Basel, transforms the institutional space into an arena for creative production, investigating the cult of the Black Madonna aesthetically, metaphorically and within the history of religion. The show enters into a critical dialogue with the museum’s architecture and collection, bringing together archived objects and images from American black culture.

Until 21 October. Find out more here. 

Credits:
1. Theaster Gates, Black Madonna. © Kunstmuseum Basel
2. Hairstyles (1965). Photograph from the archives of the Johnson Publishing Company. Courtesy Theaster Gates